Dinner is served, then it's back into the homeless night

Friday

Nov 28, 2008 at 12:01 AM

As the stock market continues its wild gyrations that have cost it nearly half its value since October 2007, Americans are left to wonder what their future will hold.

Put me in that category. With retirement looming, I admit to being more than a little concerned about what the years ahead will look like. Life expectancy continues to lengthen, making me wonder what kind of resources will be needed to support me in my advancing age.

But all that seemed immaterial when I spent last Saturday evening serving dinner at Charlotte County's Genesis Center. Coincidentally, Anna Scott's article in Sunday's Herald-Tribune simply reinforced the very scenes my husband and I witnessed as we scurried about with trays of welcome food for those who had put pride aside and sought help. I'm pretty sure the face that looked back at me from my morning paper belonged to the same person who quietly thanked me as he left the Genesis Center with a full stomach the night before.

When the United Way of Charlotte County announced plans for its first Family Volunteer Day, I decided that the Homeless Coalition's project to help with Saturday night dinner fit best into my schedule. What with planning for the holidays and a new grandchild expected in December, I had not spent much time considering my expectations of the experience. I just knew I wanted to support the United Way and its VolunteerWay program that connects people willing to serve with agencies that really need them.

So off we went to the center, near the Murdock area of Charlotte. The building, which will soon house its 24-hour shelter, is a bit off the beaten track amid stands of pine on lots once planned by General Development Corp. to be homes for Midwestern retirees. One volunteer observed the center might be hard to find, but as dinnertime approached, it was apparent that those in need know where to come.

The relatively new dining room looked nothing like the soup kitchens I've seen in other places. This has the feeling of a cozy cafe filled with some two dozen tables that can accommodate four people each. Silk pansies arranged in glass vases adorned each table.

At about 4:30 p.m., people began to trickle in. Dinner time is 5 p.m., moved up an hour since Standard Time resumed so that those who come can get home before dark. Most of them arrive on bicycles; a few walk.

I think I expected to recognize the homeless. They would be mostly men, middle age or older, probably unkempt and possibly unclean. They would look nothing like me.

I was wrong. The people who shared dinner at the Genesis Center Saturday night were young and older, men and women and even a few children. One father came with his two young children. Another man was in a wheelchair. And as she left, one woman wrapped a blanket around her shoulders to help shield her from the cool night air. Somehow I got the feeling she had no bed to sleep on that night.

Genesis Center does not serve its clientele in a cafeteria line. Volunteer servers take orders -- there are usually two entree choices -- just as in any cafe, and deliver the plates to the table. Thank-yous are heard all around, and cleaned plates are returned to the kitchen. Many of the people served leave with a sack lunch to tide them over until they can get back to the center.

The problem of homelessness and hunger are not exclusive to Southwest Florida, though the collapse of the housing industry has magnified the need in this area. Many of the volunteers at the Genesis Center come with church groups that regularly prepare and serve the meals.

It is people like these who offer hope to those who need it most. In addition, programs like the Season of Sharing, sponsored by this newspaper company, strive to help people in emergency situations who might otherwise become homeless. You can donate to the Season of Sharing by writing a check to the Community Foundation of Sarasota County, P.O. Box 49587, Sarasota, FL 34230-6587 or donate online at cfsarasota.org. Since 2000, the fund has raised $1.8 million with 100 percent of the money going to help people.

The hope is that someday the Genesis Center will no longer be needed. Until then, those who make it possible are a godsend.

Kathy Silverberg is the Southern Region Publisher for the Herald- Tribune Media Group.

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